Ilhan Omar's daughter suspended, multiple students arrested at Columbia during pro-Hamas protest

On Thursday, Ilhan Omar's daughter Isra Hirsi revealed that she had been suspended from Barnard College at Columbia University over her involvement in anti-Israel protests on campus.

Hirsi, 21, was one of three people to receive suspensions in connection with an ongoing "Liberated Zone" encampment demonstration at the university. Three other students were arrested on Tuesday night.

"i'm an organizer with CU Apartheid Divest [Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine]," Hirsi wrote in a post on X. "in my 3 years at [Barnard College] i have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings."

"i just received notice that i am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide."

Protests at the university feature agitators calling for the killing of Israeli soldiers by Hamas. 

The on-campus activists staging a sit-in in the quad chant anti-semitic slogans about the overtaking of Israel by Palestinians and the eradication of the nation entirely. They chant that "Palestine is Arab" and call to "raise the banner of the revolution."

In a statement to the students, published by Apartheid Divest, Barnard Dean Leslie Grinage explained that, "this decision is based on information received from Columbia University Public Safety that you have been involved in an unauthorized encampment on the Columbia University campus and you have not ceased participation in this unauthorized encampment despite repeated requests from Barnard and Columbia on April 17, 2024 that you do so."

Despite her suspension, Hirsi showed no signs of backing down.

"those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated," she wrote. "we will stand resolute until our demands are met. our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of [Columbia]'s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression."

Arrests continued into Thursday, and by the afternoon, the New York Police Department was loading students onto buses to be taken away from the university.

In a statement posted to X, Hirsi's mother expressed her solidarity with protestors.

"Columbia has always had an incredible history of students fighting for a more just world and it's good to see that tradition continue," she said. "As NYPD surrounds young activists, I hope their concerns are heard by school administrators and they not be criminalized."